Yes, 1997 was a cold spring. In fact with a mean of 50.3 May of 1997 is the current coldest May of record here in GR.

The overnight low here in MBY was 19, the current temperature with cloudy skies is now up to 22. The next 7 days will see a roller coaster of temperatures with chances of snow, freezing rain and rain. Highs will range from the upper 30’s to maybe the mid 60’s lows will range mid 20’s to around 40. Any snowfall could see light accumulations. KEY MESSAGES LIGHT SNOW ACCUMULATIONS TODA ICE ACCUMULATIONS POSSIBLE TONIGHT AND THURSDAY MORNING RAIN CHANCES FRIDAY, POTENTIALLY SIGNIFICANT WARMUP SATURDAY RAIN TO SNOW SAT NIGHT/SUN WITH COOLER TEMPERATURES Detailed Forecast Today Snow showers likely, mainly between 8am and 11am. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 39. South wind 7 to 11 mph, with gusts as high as 23 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. Total daytime snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible. Tonight A slight chance of freezing rain after 4am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 31. South southwest wind around 6 mph becoming calm after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 10%. Thursday A 30 percent chance of showers, mainly between 7am and 2pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 48. Light and variable wind. Thursday Night Mostly cloudy, with a low around 34. Light and variable wind. Friday A 20 percent chance of showers before 2pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 55. West southwest wind 5 to 9 mph, with gusts as high as 18 mph. Friday Night Mostly cloudy, with a low around 36. Saturday Mostly sunny, with a high near 59. Saturday Night A chance of rain and snow showers before 2am, then a chance of rain showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 40. Sunday A chance of rain showers, mixing with snow after 8am, then gradually ending. Partly sunny, with a high near 54. Sunday Night Partly cloudy, with a low around 27. Monday Mostly sunny, with a high near 44. Monday Night Partly cloudy, with a low around 26. Tuesday Partly sunny, with a high near 49. The official H/L yesterday at Grand Rapids was 22/17 that high of 22 was the 4th coldest high for any March 17th at Grand Rapids and the coldest high since 1939. There was a trace of snowfall the highest wind gust was 34 MPH out of the W. For today the average H/L is 45/27 the record high of 75 was in 1903 and 2012 the coldest high of 17 was in 1939 the record low of 5 was in 1923 the warmest low of 54 was in 2012. The wettest was 1.06” in 1899 the most snowfall of 5.7” was in 1965 the most snow on the ground was 13” in 1904. Today the sunrise is at 7:49 AM and the sunset is at 7:52 PM. Some weather history for March 18th 1925, The great Tri-State Tornado occurred, the most deadly tornado in U.S. history. The tornado claimed 695 lives (including 234 at Murphysboro IL and 148 at West Frankfort IL), and caused seventeen million dollars property damage. It cut a swath of destruction 219 miles long and as much as a mile wide from east central Missouri to southern Indiana between 1 PM and 4 PM. The tornado leveled a school in West Frankfort IL, and picked up sixteen students setting them down unharmed 150 yards away. Seven other tornadoes claimed an additional 97 lives that day. (David Ludlum) 1971, High winds accompanied a low pressure system from the Rocky Mountains to the Great Lakes. Winds gusted to 100 mph at Hastings NE, and reached 115 mph at Hays KS. High winds caused two million dollars damage in Kansas. Fire burned 50,000 forest acres in eastern Oklahoma. (17th-19th) (The Weather Channel) Slim The current temperature and overnight low here in MBY was(is) 32. There is some light freezing mist falling. Today will be warmer than yesterday and in fact the next week looks to be rather typical for late March. Highs today should be in the upper 40’s lows tonight in the upper 30’s. Highs on Friday in the low 50’s and on Saturday it highs should be in the upper 50’s lows will range from the mid 30’s to low 40’s. The rest of the next 7 days will see highs in the 40’s to near 50 with lows in the upper 20’s. the week looks to be mostly dry. KEY MESSAGES RAIN NORTH TONIGHT, LOW CHANCES FOR FREEZING RAIN WARMER SATURDAY WITH RAIN CHANGING TO SNOW SAT NIGHT-SUN DRY EARLY NEXT WEEK WITH SEASONABLE TEMPERATURES Detailed Forecast Today A chance of rain or freezing rain before 9am, then a chance of rain showers between 9am and 11am. Partly sunny, with a high near 49. Calm wind. Chance of precipitation is 40%. Tonight Mostly cloudy, with a low around 37. Calm wind becoming south southeast around 6 mph after midnight. Friday Mostly cloudy, with a high near 53. Southwest wind 8 to 10 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph. Friday Night Mostly cloudy, with a low around 36. North wind 3 to 6 mph. Saturday Partly sunny, with a high near 58. Light and variable wind becoming southwest 5 to 7 mph in the morning. Saturday Night Mostly cloudy, with a low around 43. Sunday A 40 percent chance of showers after 8am. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 55. Sunday Night Mostly cloudy, with a low around 27. Monday Mostly sunny, with a high near 42. Monday Night Partly cloudy, with a low around 26. Tuesday Partly sunny, with a high near 46. Tuesday Night Mostly cloudy, with a low around 28. Wednesday Mostly cloudy, with a high near 51. The official H/L yesterday at Grand Rapids was 34/17 there was a trace of snowfall, the highest wind speed was 24 MPH out of the S. For today the average H/L is 46/28 the record high of 81 was in 2012 the coldest high of 16 was in 1923 the record low of 0 was in 1923 the warmest low of 55 was in 2012. The most rainfall of 2.48” was in 1948 the most snowfall of 3.3” was in 1971 the most snow on the ground was 9” in 1965. The sunrise time today is 7:47 AM and the sunset time is 7:53 PM. Some weather history for March 19th 1935. Suffocating dust storms occurred frequently in southeastern Colorado between the 12th and the 25th of the month. Six people died, and many livestock starved or suffocated. Up to six feet of dust covered the ground. Schools were closed, and many rural homes were deserted by tenants. (The Weather Channel) 2003, Denver digs out from the second-biggest snowstorm in the city's history. Almost two and a half feet of wet snow over 36 hours shuts down the city. The month ends as Denver's snowiest March on record. And here in the much of the Midwest it is the 5th day of the 2012 March heat wave.

Warmth on Sunday:

Also pretty rare for March snow to stick around for more than 24 hours. Most of the time it melts by afternoon but to have it snowing mid day in March was pretty epic. Even if it wasn’t accumulating much.

And coldest DJFM on record.